Shoulder guard for garment hangers



April 24, 1962 w, u -rs SHOULDER GUARD FoR GARMENT HANGERS INVENTORWILLIAM F. TUFTS,

Filed March 10, 1958 United States Patent Qfiice 3,031,115 Patented Apr.24, 1962 3,031,115 SHQULDER GUARD FOR GARMENT HANGERS William F. Tufts,Atlanta, Ga. (Box 462, Decatur, Ga.) Filed Mar. 10, 1958, Ser. No.720,459 1 Claim. (Cl. 223--98) This invention pertains to protectivecovers for wire hangers and has as its purpose to provide ashoulder-supporting design for such a cover particularly suitable forsupporting dresses and coats on such hangers.

Altho the concept of a hanger cover for the shoulder member is not new,those which appear in the art possess certain deficiencies which thisinvention is aimed at correcting. From a commercial standpoint thereappear some four basic requirements for a cover, or shield, of thistype, all of which are incorporated in the concept of this invention.

Such features are: (a) A substantial radius of the garment supportingsurface of the guard or shield to prevent the forming of creases orsupport-impressions in the garment. (b) Easy installation of the guardto a wire hanger. Ability of the articles to nest, one upon the other,for the purpose of minimum packing space. (d) Ability of the article tocontribute to the packaging appearance of the product of the drycleaner, which is anticipated to be the major user of this invention.

In addition to being designed to meet the above requirements, thisinvention is also designed for economical manufacture so that it may bemade available to the cleaning industry on a basis substantiallycompetitive with the simple tissue shield, which, tho in popular use,provides no garment supporting radiused rib.

The feature details of this invention will be discussed as they appearin the figures which are as follows:

FIGURE 1 shows a wire hanger installed with the shoulder guard of thisinvention.

FIGURE 2 is a perspective view of the shoulder guard of the presentinvention after it is formed but before it is installed on a wire hangerin the manner sh own in FIG- URE 1.

FIGURE 3 is the section 10-10 of FIGURE 2 showing the engagement of theguard with the wire of the hanger.

FIGURE 4 illustrates the nest-stacking ability of the ard. Referring nowto the figures in detail, the shoulder guard 1 of FIGURE 1 fits over theshoulder members of the hanger 2 as shown, the hook stem protruding thruthe hole 3.

The construction of the guard and the garment supporting rib is bettershown in FIGURE 2. Here it is seen that the article is made of sheetmaterial folded and laminated with a resin line at 5 to provide thestrong and rigid garment-supporting radiused rib 4.

The skirt portions 6 and 7 extend downward from the rib portions and arearranged for joining adjacently together by the tabs 8 and 9. Thefunction of such tabs is shown in FIGURE 3. The cut 9 is shown as atab-type of cut in the skirt 7, its purpose being to provide for theengagement of the tab 8 of the skirt 6 thru the adjacent skirt 7, asshown, for locking the two skirt portions in adjacent contact andrelationship. Thus, the cut 9 could also be a cut out slot or a slit forreceiving the tab 8.

Altho not shown, another method of fastening the two skirt memberstogether is by the use of pressure-sensitive adhesive appropriatelypre-applied to their inside surfaces.

The guards of FIGURE 4 illustrate the practical manner in which thisinvention, tho possessing a substantial shoulder rib may be nested oneach other for compact packaging and consequent economical shipping.

It is not intended that the concept of this invention be limited to thespecific details of this descripion. There are variations which it isanticipated would be embraced by the spirit hereof.

What I claim is:

An accessory for attachment to the garment supporting element of agarment hanger of the triangular type comprising a longitudinal sheet,the respective sides of which are folded inwardly along a line inparallel spaced relation to the center line of said sheet, the remainingportions of the respective sides being folded outwardly along a lineunderlying but displaced slightly from said center line to form arelatively narrow reinforced, substantially horizontal garmentsupporting rib extending throughout the length of said sheet andsubstantially coextensive with the garment supporting element of thegarment hanger to which it is adapted to be attached, and means forlocking the outwardly extending portions of said sheet being widelyspaced apart throughout the greater portions thereof but in engagementwith each other along a line beneath said center line near the outermostedge and end of each of said remaining portions, each of said meanscomprising a tab formed in one of said portions and a tab-receiving slotin the opposite portion and in alignment with said tab for engagementtherewith.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS2,151,013 Coney Mar. 21, 1939 2,292,786 Hobelman Aug. 11, 1942 2,448,282Schmitt Aug. 31, 1948 2,510,043 Tillery May 30, 1950 2,510,044 TilleryMay 30, 1950 2,591,163 Kivett Apr. 1, 1952 2,641,393 Gwinn June 9, 1953FOREIGN PATENTS 496,530 Canada Sept. 29, 1953

